Wednesday, June 17, 2009

House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) today issued the following statement after Members of the House GOP Health Care Reform Solutions Group outlined its proposal to reduce costs and expand Americans’ access to affordable health care:

"Health care reform is a bipartisan priority, but the Democrats’ plan for government-run health care is not the change Americans want. Their new government-run program will make health care more expensive, raise taxes, ration care, and empower bureaucrats to make key medical decisions instead of patients and doctors. It will force at least 23 million Americans to lose their current health care plan, and force them into a massive new government-run plan that will crowd out all competition. Middle-class families and small businesses simply don’t support a government takeover of health care, and neither should Congress.

“House Republicans have a better plan to reduce costs, expand access, and increase the quality of care in a way that Americans can afford. Our plan focuses on innovative preventive and wellness programs to help avoid serious, and costly, illnesses. It gives states tools to design innovative programs that make health care coverage more affordable for everyone, while providing more Americans incentives to buy health care they cannot afford now. Our proposal allows small businesses to band together and provide insurance for their employees at a lower cost, just as large corporations and unions do. And it roots out waste, fraud, and abuse that costs taxpayers billions, while reining in junk lawsuits that make health care more costly for everyone.

“Unlike the Democrats’ government takeover of health care, this common-sense plan keeps patients and doctors in charge of key medical decisions. I thank Rep. Blunt, as well as Reps. Dave Camp (R-MI), Buck McKeon (R-CA), Joe Barton (R-TX), and all the Members of our Republican Solutions Group for their work on this proposal, and I urge Democrats in Washington to give it serious consideration during the health care debate this summer.”

NOTE: The plan outlined by the House Republican Health Care Reform Solutions Group, led by Rep. Roy Blunt (R-MO), is designed to:

Make quality health care coverage affordable and accessible for every American, regardless of pre-existing health conditions.Protect Americans from being forced into a new government-run health care plan that would eliminate the health care coverage that more than 100 million Americans currently receive through their job.Let Americans who like their health care coverage keep it, and give all Americans the freedom to choose the health plan that best meets their needs.Ensure that medical decisions are made by patients and their doctors, not government bureaucrats.Improve Americans’ lives through effective prevention, wellness, and disease management programs, while developing new treatments and cures for life-threatening diseases.Boehner said the GOP plan also maintains current law provisions regarding restrictions on federal funding of abortion services, and does not impose mandates either on insurance carriers or medical providers to participate in activities that violate their religious and moral beliefs.